Throughout this module, I have worked hard to understand what is needed from me to be a professional photographer. It’s definitely a career that I wish to pursue further once I finish university, along with videography as stated earlier. Meeting other photographers who are successful and established in their fields has inspired and motivated me to push myself as a photography to reach their level and beyond. This module has opened my eyes to things that I hadn’t considered before as a photographer, such as being flexible with my work in a way for me to keep evolving and moving, rather than being stuck in a rut producing the same things over and over in the same way. I feel a lot more confident pursuing this career after speaking to the photographers too as collectively, they have given me some great advice and I was pleased with the feedback I received and I will definitely act upon the advice to work on my lighting further. This module has made me want to venture back into the studio and pick up from where I left off 3 years ago. Confidence is something that I really struggle with in myself and my work and I feel motivated to get back into the studio and gain my confidence back in something that I really love doing.

I’m really pleased with my showreel and I was considering adding photography to it, however, I wanted to keep my videography portfolio and photography portfolio separate, as I use my Flickr to showcase my photography work and I have been building upon it continuously for many years. I was really disappointed that I didn’t hear back from everyone that I contacted and I should have contacted more. If I were to do this module again, I would have recorded my conversations with the photographers as I did forget parts that they told me and the recordings would have been interesting evidence within my blog and they would have been useful to listen back to in the future.

Overall, I have massively mixed feelings about this module. I’m glad that it happened as it’s motivated me to ‘get back on the horse’, so to say. However, I think many, many things could have been improved and done better. But this module isn’t just confined to university. Everything within it is integral to being successful in the real world in a media career so this will be something that I will continue studying and exploring once I finish university as I find that it is important and educating to think deeper into the industry and into what is needed of me as a professional. I have also understood why networking is important and I will definitely work harder to network over the summer and all the way through my professional career as it is necessary in this line of work.

Below is my showreel of some of my strongest work within my degree. These are the pieces that I am proud of the most and I hope that my passion is reflected within it.

Below is my Wix website, which I will be using as an online portfolio. Not only does it feature my showreel but my contact details, biography and hyperlinks to my Flickr and Vimeo accounts, which feature my photography and videography work.

I have mixed feelings about the outcome of my final media project. I was incredibly passionate about my original plan to go to America and interview Team StarKid, however I knew that it wasn’t possible due to filming complications and financial issues. It was upsetting that a project I was very eager to do would have to be cancelled. I found it very difficult to come up with a new idea.

I toyed around with different ideas and couldn’t settle on anything I liked. After remembering that I would be traveling to Andorra, that seemed like a perfect documentary for me to do. I wanted to stick with a documentary over a short film as I really enjoy telling and sharing true stories. At first, I was a little skeptical about the resort idea as I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, yet the closer and closer my trip came, the more excited I became. Sadly, hitting another bump and being set back again due to being too ill to film was a massive dent to my confidence. I didn’t feel like I could create a successful film in such a short time and I was constantly worried and stressed. I feel that this has been my biggest set back in the process of this module. Not the inability to go to America, nor the illness, nor the lose of memory cards. I think my own self-confidence has hindered me.

After filming at Kings and still not knowing what direction to go, I’m glad I decided to go down a poetic documentary route. I think it’s different to others that are being submitted. I’m really pleased with the editing, I really like how it turned out. Overall, that is what I’m most proud of. At the end of all of this, I’m glad that I managed to create a piece of work that I could be proud of in the end. It was stressful but I managed to be get there in the end, regardless of all the hiccups that I encountered.

When creating my EPK, I wanted it to look modern and fresh, which I have implimented via geometric snow flakes and unusual placements of my photos. From my logo to my poster to my EPK, I have stuck with the same colours throughout, in order to link and associate them all with one another. I have kept it simple by not including too much information as I didn’t want to overload it but have included enough for people to know about my film and to intrigue them into watching it. I have included some of my favourite shots from my film as I think these are some of the most interesting.

Before creating my EPK, I researched what is needed within one to make it effective and interesting. I firstly found some templates. Although they were for comedy or horror films, they helped me to understand what components are important for an EPK.

Figure 1.

I also found an interesting website that listed what should be included in a press kit:

COVER SHEET – This should contain the title logo, production company, director, writer, star actors (if any), and contact information for you or the person representing your film.

ONE-SHEET ARTWORK – You need to have artwork for your film, even if it’s only temporary. This is crucial, especially in the horror genre.

SYNOPSIS – This should be one concise description of the plot of your film and should be no longer than one page.

CAST & CREW INFORMATION – You should list your lead actors and include their mini-biography and a brief filmography. For the crew you should include the producer, director, writer, cinematographer, makeup FX artist, composer, and any other notable person with credits worth mentioning. This should only be one-page, and don’t be modest!

STATEMENT OF THE DIRECTOR – The director’s statement is a short statement where you explain why you made the film and your vision, but this is usually optional.

NEWS & MEDIA COVERAGE – You should include any news, press, or reviews for your film and always highlight the best first.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION – This is a technical description of your film and should include things such as: shooting format (35mm, 16mm, digital), aspect ratio (16×9, 4×3), sound format (5.1, stereo), running time, language, and MPAA rating if applicable.

PRODUCTION STILL PHOTOS –These can be color or B&W images and should be professionally shot.

PRODUCTION NOTES – Anything you feel is noteworthy about the production you should mention in this section. If you are telling the story about how you shot the ending of your film on your uncle’s farm during a tornado then that is not worth mentioning!

TRAILER DVD & ONLINE VERSION –You must have a trailer ready for your film before you submit. I always have a separate DVD and an online version.

I have included the majority of these points so that my EPK is to a high standard

For general ski holiday videos and edits, the general intended audience are those whom are already interested within snow sports. Holiday edits show off skills and tricks that the skier or boarder can do, generally in parks rather than on the piste. The intended audience of these are people who are interested for them to admire or to even perhaps create envy.

My film doesn’t include tricks or anything special. It shows a group of friends skiing on-piste together, having fun, not worrying about being the best. With the poetic, experimental nature, it shows that my film is targeted towards those that are beginners in skiing, perhaps those who have only ridden dry slope and not traveled abroad to experience actual snow, and people who don’t ski and don’t know much about it. I hope I can give an insight about a different side of skiing that isn’t spoken about: that it’s not the snow that makes the experience, it’s the people with you.

When my audience comes away from my film, I want them to be moved by it and for them to see that it isn’t just a sport for rich families and pros. Skiing is for everyone and anyone and that you don’t need to be good at all to have fun. It isn’t just about the snow and the skiing for a lot of people and it hope that gets taken away from my film.

As stated in the post about what skills and aspects you need to be a good photographer, I have practiced a lot in order to improve on my photography. Not only have I worked on improving myself over the years that I have studied photography on an academic level, I have also spent a lot of time taking photos in my spare time. I have done this through working on personal projects, as well as working with clients. Over the years, I have been working with my old theatre school to photograph their performances. This was my first experience of being paid for my work, as well as working with a client in photography. I have since moved onto working with the Coventry University Water Sports Society, where I am appointed as Head of Media, where I will photograph sessions of kayaking and wakeboarding. I also work with the Coventry University Golf Club where I accompany them during rounds photographing them for their website, as well as taking headshots for their team.

Before photographing the theatre group, I hadn’t taken photos for a live event before, so it was a educating experience for me. It helped me to learn what techniques I had to use in order to get the best shots that I could. Before, I had also never considered working as a live events photographer, however if I were to start my own business, I would like to do this as part of that. Moving onto sports photography was also exciting and interesting. With these sports including fast movements, I once again had to learn what techniques I needed to utilise the opportunity. In these experiences, I have faced difficulties which I have then learnt to overcome, such as shooting in places with poor lighting. I have also photographed a live performance by the rapper Watsky at my local club. This was particularly difficult due to the poor lighting and once again fast movements. I felt this didn’t go well and is something else I wish to practice post-university.

Before university, I focused a lot on studio work and, due to not working in a studio for three years, I feel like I’ve lost a lot of the knowledge that I had before. I would also like to work on this and practice in order to gain back these skills and confidence in a studio set up.

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Third year Media Production student at Coventry University. Aspiring filmmaker and photographer, who loves being behind a camera more than life itself. Editing, scriptwriting, cinematography. You name it, I love doing it.

Visit my previous Wordpress blog in order to see my A Level Media Studies work here.

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